Moving to the US: The 10 Questions Everyone Asks Expat-US First

After 17 years and nearly 5000 families relocated, we hear the same questions on almost every first call from startup founders moving their team from Berlin, from HR managers in London, from families leaving Paris. Here they are, with the answers we give our clients.

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🆔 1. “What is an SSN, and why does everyone keep asking for it?”

The Social Security Number is your identity key in the US: you need it to get paid, open accounts, build credit, sometimes even to rent. You can only apply once you’ve arrived, and the appointment matters we book it in your first week, because everything else flows from it.

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🏦 2. “Can I keep my bank from home, or do I need a US bank?”

You need a US account, your salary, rent and utilities all run through it

Your home bank’s “international” offer rarely replaces it

The catch: some US banks won’t open an account without a US address or SSN

We work with local banks that onboard newcomers on day one

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💵 3. “How much is a two-bedroom, $1,000 or $5,000 a month?”

A real question from a real call and a fair one, because ranges abroad are unimaginable

• Manhattan: $5,000–10 000
• Brooklyn or New Jersey: $3,500–8,000
• Austin or Detroit: half that

The number matters less than this rule: budget first, neighborhood second, apartment third

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🗺️ 4. “Which neighborhood should we live in?”

Wrong first question, the right one is: how long do you accept to commute, and do you need a school district? Those two answers eliminate 80% of the map

Then we visit what’s left

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🏢 5. “Why do I need help renting? I’ve rented apartments all my life.”

Not with a US landlord. No US credit history, no US income history: on paper, you’re the riskiest applicant in the pile. Accompanied by a relocation company with a prepared file, your application competes; alone, it often doesn’t even get answered.

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🎓 6. “Public or private school?”

US public schools are free, enroll year-round, and are assigned by home address which is why school and home are one single search

Private schools run $30,000–40,000 per child per year

Most of our families start public, and many stay

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🛋️ 7. “The apartment comes without furniture who assembles everything?”

US rentals are typically unfurnished sometimes without light fixtures and full furnished kitchen

You can rent furniture monthly, buy on arrival, or ship yours

And yes, someone assembles it that’s part of what settling-in support means

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📅 8. “When should we move?”

If you can choose: January

Rents in New York drop up to 20% versus summer, landlords negotiate, and schools enroll mid-year

June is the most expensive month to arrive

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🏨 9. “How long do we need temporary housing?”

One month, usually

That’s enough to get the SSN, the bank account and sign a lease if the search is prepared before you land

Temporary housing in New York runs $8,000–10,000 a month, so every extra month is expensive improvisation

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⏱️ 10. “How long does the whole thing take?”

Six to eight weeks from kick-off to keys, when it’s sequenced properly

The visa is the only step we can’t compress everything after it, we can

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🎯 The question nobody asks and should

“What happens if we get this wrong?”

A failed relocation the family that never settles, the early return, costs a multiple of what structured support costs

That’s the real math behind every question above

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Expat-US answers these questions every week, for companies and families relocatinganywhere in the United States. Ask us yours.